“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”
Haile Selassie

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Mayor Greg Ballard's campaign is buying radio spots to promote his
proposal to hire 280

Mayor Greg Ballard

new police officers and invest $50 million in early
childhood education.

The ads will begin running Thursday on
several stations in advance of a Sept. 22 City-County Council deadline
to take action on his plan. If it is not approved, the pre-k component
would die for this year.
...

The ads are being paid for by the Greg Ballard for Mayor Committee.
Ballard has not yet said whether he will seek a third term as mayor.

Campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Hallowell would not reveal how much was spent but said it was "a decent-sized buy."

She
said it was unusual for a campaign to spend money on a legislative
proposal but the mayor was committed to getting the plan passed.

So Mayor Ballard solicits campaign contributions to run for office, and instead uses the money to push for income and property tax increases and to promote a pre-K program? While perfectly legal in Indiana law, I can't imagine his donors, many a few of which may be conservative Republicans (if there are any of those left who support the mayor given his liberal policies), are happy about paying to promote tax increases and the adoption of a new entitlement program.

Ballard should be pocketing every dollar he receives in 2014 in anticipation of a 2015 re-election bid. The fact he isn't doing that suggests that Ballard might well forgo running for a third term.

3 comments:

No real conservative donates to Ballard's campaign committee. Pretty much only people getting contracts from the city who could care less how he spends the money as long as he keeps doling out contracts to them.

Purity of intent aside; there's no case, none, for increased taxes of any kind. There is only a case for lower taxes in this era of morbidly proportioned government.

Folks who are serious about Pre-K programs should leverage the resumes they claim & fund these ideas within the private sector; that which shrinks proportionately to the growth of government & tax. There are no sound economics to support Americans paying more in tax- none!

I totally support the idea of investing $50 million in early childhood education. I always said that if we want to fix the system we need to look closer to its roots, to where it all begins. You can’t fix colleges as there is no point. You need to go from the begging and only then you’ll have a chance for success. I honestly do not know what exactly should be the head start, but I am not the member of the Education Board anyways.Ali with EssayOnlineStore Service

About Me

I have been an attorney since the Fall of 1987. I have worked in every branch of government, including a stint as a Deputy Attorney General, a clerk for a judge on the Indiana Court of Appeals, and I have worked three sessions at the Indiana State Senate.
During my time as a lawyer, I have worked not only in various government positions, but also in private practice as a trial attorney handing an assortment of mostly civil cases.
I have also been politically active and run this blog in an effort to add my voice to those calling for reform.